Glory Seed Devotional, 2017.08.11

Has one of these thoughts ever haunted you? “O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble? …The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Psalm 10:1, Mark 9:24, NLT) If so the author of Hebrews has some words you can “sink your teeth in,” words to hold you up during your darkest hours. “God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.” (Hebrews 6:17–19, NLT)

Mark 9:24 has always intrigued me, how can one believe yet need to overcome unbelief? There are times when trying to understand the scriptures we think the answer has to be deep and hidden and while searching the deep and mysteriousness of God we can miss its simplicity. Take “I do believe, help my unbelief” for instance believe it or not it’s something we’ve all done at one time or another. Let me explain, do any of us have obtained the ultimate level of faith? Do any of us have not seen their faith grow experience by experience? Mark is telling us faith is a “living thing” it lives, it grows, it matures, exercise it and it gets stronger, don’t exercise it and it weakens, it can be deep, it can be shallow, it can get sick, it can die, it can sustain us for the long haul, or it can also leave us “high and dry.”

R.C. Sproul in his book What is Faith writes, “In a real sense, hope is faith looking forward. The word faith carries a strong element of trust. If my hope is based on something God has said will happen in the future, the hope I have for that future promise finds its substance from my trust and confidence in the One making the promise. I can have hope because I have faith in God. Because I can trust the promise of God for tomorrow, there is substance to my hope; my hope is not just a chimera, a fantasy, or a wish projection based on idle dreams. Rather, it is based on something substantive.”

Faith, the power to go beyond the boundaries of time and space. Accompanying you to boldly go into the vastness of time and timelessness of a life lived in Partnership with God.

“May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us.” **

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I, too am in a season where “darknessis my closest friend” Psalm 44, and yet there is hope for when this passes either now or in eternity there will be a glorious homecoming, as we suffer, as we share, as we bear one another’s burdens, we move forward, it,at be slow as a snail but it is still moving – love this reflection today .

Thank you my friend! I pray for you everyday and I know that even if it doesn’t change anything I know when we pray God answers with His presence and that always gets us through. I know you’re keeping the faith, and faith is its own reward/blessing!